Rangers' McDonagh out vs. Devils

New York captain out indefinitely because of concussion sustained Saturday

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers all-star defenseman and captain Ryan McDonagh has a concussion and will not play against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

McDonagh was injured in the first period of the Rangers' 3-2 shootout win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. He was punched in the head by Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds at 10:36 of the first period and did not return to the game.

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said there is no timetable for how long McDonagh will be out. McDonagh has seven goals and 26 point in 52 games this season, and leads the Rangers with an average ice time of 22:44.

Simmonds received a game misconduct and a match penalty. McDonagh was called for slashing and high sticking.

Vigneault expressed his disappointment that Simmonds was not disciplined further by the NHL for his actions.

"What I didn't expect was the reaction from the League," Vigneault said. "When an all-star player gets sucker punched and goes down, I wonder if that's [Sidney] Crosby what happens, what are the consequences? And on top of that, that player [Simmonds] breaks his stick, throws it at the referee. In the rulebook, that's automatic, that's three games, and nothing happens. It's not even on the sheet after the game. And the referee came to me because I said, 'Am I getting a power play here?' And he said, 'No, no, he's getting a game misconduct for throwing his stick at us,' and it's not on the sheet.

"The way Ryan was playing at this time, he was finding his game. The best part of his game is when he's skating and beating the forecheck, and he's jumping up in the play at the right time. When he's feeling good about his game and himself he's a tremendous offensive defenseman and he's a great defender. You can match him up against all the top, top players and he loves that challenge."

Vigneault said the Rangers will play Monday with the six healthy defensemen they have on the roster for the game against New Jersey, meaning Dylan McIlrath will take McDonagh's spot in the lineup. But the roster will be re-evaluated before their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

"We're going to have to take this day by day and it's an opportunity for some guys right now to get a little bit more ice time, step up and play well for us," Vigneault said. "We're going to need that. You don't just replace one of your top players. You need a group of guys to come in and give you a little bit more and that's what we're hoping we're going to get."

The roster re-evaluation is necessary because the Rangers now have two healthy left-shot defensemen. Dan Boyle is the likeliest of the four right-shot defensemen to switch sides Monday, but Vigneault said it likely will be a situational rotation for the four righties, including Dan Girardi, Kevin Klein and McIlrath.

"It will be a combination of all of the four depending on if it's an offensive faceoff, a defensive faceoff, who the other team has put out on the ice," Vigneault said. "I don't think there is one guy that is particularly comfortable [moving to the left side]. The most skilled is probably Dan Boyle. All the other three feel a lot more comfortable on the right side."

Rangers left wing Rick Nash will miss his sixth consecutive game because of a bone bruise in his left knee. Vigneault said Nash has not skated for the past three days.

"We've been talking about slowing him down a little bit because we didn't see the progression that we thought we'd see with that bone bruise," Vigneault said. "He's been off the ice now for three days. Today he came in and said he was feeling a lot better so we might give him a day or two more. It's not an exact science, the bone bruises, so we'll see how he feels in a day or two and go from there."

Devils forward Michael Cammalleri will miss his fourth consecutive game because of a right wrist injury.

"There's no timetable right now," Devils coach John Hynes said. "It's a situation where we've got to see how it goes. You can call it week-to-week or day-to-day; we're just trying to see how it goes every three or four days for him, if there is an improvement. He's skating on his own, he's working out and we're planning on him being back at some point hopefully soon here. But it's an injury where there is no set timetable."

Henrik Lundqvist will start in goal for the Rangers against the Devils' Cory Schneider.